Belgium: Bruges

Bruge is considered to be the cultural capital of Europe. This city didn’t have much going for it until the late 1800’s when they decided to make it a thing.

It still wasn’t all that exciting, in my opinion, but I did have a full day packed with interesting things to do, thanks for the use-it line of super helpful maps.

(Use-it is a company that makes tourist maps targeted for young people and uses a lot of locals’ knowledge for the “inside” secrets, and all their suggestions are fantastic)

I arrived in Brussels via bus & ferry and felt awful. I meant to explore Brussels a bit during the morning and head over to Bruge later, but gtfo of Brussels because I was cold, tired, and miserable. A student can get a 6 euro train ticket between brussels/bruge/ghent/antwerp for anytime of the day, so I booked those online, and hopped on the train to Bruge.

The awesome thing about Belgian trains were that they were so helpfully laid out, and the platform numbers all pre-chosen! Here, the Flemish culture is strong and most people seemed to speak Dutch & pretty good English all over.

They also had fresh bread vending machines.

Bruge is a tiny town surrounded by canals. They’t not used as extensively as they are in Venice, but I must say, it adds a lot to the scenery. Boat tours are pretty cheap (7–8 euros) but you get a lot of mixed reviews about it.

My first stop was Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of our Lady) with the Madonna with Child statue at the center of their alterpiece. The entrance is only 1 euro for young people, and this is one of the only few Michaelangelo statues to be taken out of Italy, so it has its significance from that alone. It was to be placed in the Cathedral of Siena (which I also visited!) but at the last moment, some rich person bought it off to put it here. I didn’t pay that much attention to the signs..

Bruge was built to be a tourist trap, because a lot of the buildings were rebuilt to look more midieval-y to attract foreigners to come visit this mystical and beautiful town. And I must say, they did it well. Watching the horse-drawn carriages roam these streets, I could imagine myself wearing one of the no-breathe dresses of the old days.

This is the main center of the city with touristy restaurants and shops, and lots of horse drawn carriages waiting to shuttle some foreigners around the city. Though I must admit, I was tempted to do the same. The streets in Belgium are not paved but are rather uneven cobblestones and very harsh on the feet ):

Every Saturday, there is a flea market open on the west side of the city. There, you can get cheap clothing made in china and you will also see food trucks gathered on the north end of the market. You can get cheeses of all sorts, chocolate packs for everyone in your extended family, whole roast chicken for just a few euros, bread (called brood), and pastries of all sorts! The best part is that the prices are very cheap. I had so many choices I had to stand in the middle and calm myself before getting some appelcake. (sometimes I think whoever made English was just a dyslexic dutch person)

My next stop was Haalveman Brewery — the only brewery left in Bruge. I went on a tour for 8 euros and ended with a glass of the famous Brugse Zot Blond. In the cafe there, you can try a bowl of beer soup!

During the tour, you get to climb to the roof of the building, where you can get a grand view of the whole city.

I took different ways to get to a place if I had been in the area before, and every street and path seems to offer you a new and picturesque view, so don’t be lazy! the city is already super small.

Groeninge Museum, right next to theOnze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk, houses the works of many influential Flemish artists. They’re not famous like the renaissance artists of Italy or the French impressionists, but they have their unique style that stands out, if you’re interested in art. And here are rando photos of the building and the nice area around it.

To accompany random photos of the city that don’t really fit in with other descriptions, I want to suggest not eating waffles and fries in Bruge. I don’t doubt that they’re also very good, but Brussels has such competition to make the best fries and waffles that they are cheaper and better there.

Belgium is also known for its chocolate and lace, both of which I thought shopping in Bruge was better than in Belgium, so indulge in those. And of course, enjoy your time at the bars because there are hundreds of types of Belgian beers to try!

Like a lot of other European cities that want to be all old school, Bruge is big on thrift shopping. I visited a few vintage/thrift shops, but the killer one is De Kringwinkle, which is located on the east side of the city. It is a massive structure with all sorts of goods from furniture to books to lampshades to forks. Things are legit old school, and I don’t doubt some hipster bars in San Francisco would pay big money for these things.

Right around the corner from De Kringwinkle is the side of the city canal/river/idkwhatitreallyis, you can see the iconic array of windmills lining up by the water. It would be a fantastic walk, if you have the energy by that time of the day.

I wanted to try some real Belgian food, so I went to Ganzespel — also on the east side of the city. Someone named Nicky sort of single handedly runs this place, but you can get soup, a mini salad, some starch, and a daily menu for just 10.50 euros, which is a steal. The restaurant is really small, but cozy with a real fireplace on the side. Remember though, that Belgian dinner restaurants don’t open until 6PM or later..

Protip (not actually): On the map, it said “cute asses park” so I walked over to see what it was. I didn’t see any sorts of cute asses. disappointing.